Beauty From Pain
by sirimellark
Summary: Ariadne tries to put up with her abusive boyfriend...she does but when she starts fearing for her life she starts doing something she never does. She asks for help. Will she fall in love with someone else? Or just deal with being abused? Time will tell.


I really thought I found the right guy. I really thought this time, maybe I wouldn't have a heartbreak. Well guess what. I was deeply and sadly mistaken. I don't even know why I tried…or why I do try.

Shivering, I come up to a bus stop and pull my black coat over my shoulders and wait for the next bus. Feeling a tear make it's way down my cheek, I scold myself and sit on the bench. "Ariadne?" I turn to my best friend Stella's voice.

"Stella?" I ask in a shaky breath. She walks up to me, her black hair tied up in a pony tail and she wears a pair of skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. I come up to her and hug her as if she was a life line.

"Come on. You're staying with me for a while okay?" she says. She takes me to her black Honda and I sit in the passenger seat. "Okay so he's at it again?" I nod. "Oh sweetie, I am so sorry."

"It's- it's okay. I'm used to it." I lie. Before she starts driving she lifts up a portion of my bangs.

"You're all black and blue, Aria." she says, concern easily found in her voice.

"It's okay. Really." I lie again. "I'm…" That's when tears flood my eyes. "I don't know what to do!"

"You need to leave him. He's not worth your suffering. He really isn't. He lives in your house, he is a jerk. Kick him out." she says. I sigh.

"But I can't! He's really sweet when he isn't-" I start.

"He's always like that Aria!" she says. "And you know it. Whether you're going to admit it or not, that's up to you. But he's always like that." Stella starts the car and drives. "I just need you to trust your instincts. Do you want to stay with him?"

"Well…" I say, not knowing exactly how to answer.

"You should be able to answer an immediate yes if you love him." she says. "You could do so much better." Pulling in her driveway she stops the car and looks at me. "And you know it."

"I guess." I admit. "But-"

"No buts. He lives in _your _house, and he's taking advantage of that. Kick him out." I open the door.

"We'll see." I say. "We have a wedding to go to right?"

Stella nods. "Evangeline's. We're bridesmaids remember?" I nod and sigh.

"Maybe I'll find someone there." pausing, I add, "But if I don't, then I'm sticking with Matt."

"If I don't kill him first." she mutters, most likely hoping I didn't hear that. "Come on. We have to be there in an hour even though it starts in three….I hate being a bridesmaid sometimes."

I smile a little. "Did she say our hair up or down?"

"Down and curled." Stella answers, opening her door. "And she already gave us makeup to put on. I actually kind of like the dresses though." That was saying something. Stella hated wearing dresses of any kind. The fact that she likes a bridesmaid dress was saying something.

"Wow. That's a first." I pause, knowing this is a horrible question to ask her of all people. "Any cover-up?"

Stella groans slightly. "Yes. If you run out I have some too." I nod and walk to the guest room where a lot of my stuff is and grab my dress. When I put it on I smile a little. It's white and at the waist it's decorated with black lace and fits my curves perfectly. The shoes are black heels and I smile when I see that she packed the makeup in a purse. Coming into the bathroom, I grab my curler and start curling my hair piece by piece until it looks perfectly wavy and curly.

The worst part of this process is putting the cover up on the huge bruise. Wincing, I gently dab it and it looks pretty well covered up after a few coats. I come out and see Stella looking amazing as usual. "Wow. You look great." she says with a smile. "I'm sure any groom would love to do ya," she says. I laugh.

"Thanks I think…" When we head out, I smile as I step in the car. In a few minutes, we're at the garden where Evangeline wanted it. I must admit, it does look pretty amazing. The bouquets are full of dark red roses and white ones. That's when I see the bride. "Angie you look…stunning." I say, left totally speechless.

She laughs. "Thank you. As do you." her eyes widen at the bruise and I know that she notices it. She can see right through me. "Ariadne, he didn't."

"Yeah he did." Stella says before I can explain.

Angie, not knowing what to say, just stares at me with one of those 'what the hell are you thinking staying with him?' looks.

"I'm okay." I say with a sigh.

"For now! Who knows if he'll ever go that one step further! If he kills you-" she says, totally freaking out.

"He won't!" I argue.

"But what if he does?" she yells. "When will it be too late?"

"This is your day. Quit worrying about me. I'm fine." I say.

"But-"

"Just stop it!" I say. "Quit looking out for me! I am fine!"

"Fine but we are talking about this later." she says. She walks off and greets other people. Stella just sits and plays with the flowers in her bouquet. I look over and smile at some other bridesmaids I know and then see someone in particular that rings a bell in my mind.

"Jake?" I ask, stunned. He turns and looks at me, eyes wide.

"Aria? Is that seriously you?" he asks. His gorgeous hazel eyes, gleaming just like they always are when he's intrigued by something or interested.

"Yeah it's me." I smile and hug him. "Jeeze it's been forever since I've seen you."

"I know. It's crazy. How have you been?" he asks.

Stella comes up behind me. "Not well. Her boyfriend's abusing her and she won't wake up and realize that she needs to leave him."

"Who?" he asks me. I sigh and give Stella a death glare.

"No one." I say.

"Who is abusing you Aria?" he asks, more harshly.

"Matthew Davis." Stella answers. I turn around trembling, about ready to kill her.

"That douche bag." Jake mutters. "Well you tell him he's going to get hell if he keeps it up."

"No I'm-"

"Don't say you're fine. You shouldn't have to put up with that Ariadne. Not from anyone." he looks over at the groom, Eric, who used to be one of my best friends. "I have to talk to him. I'll talk to you later." Jake walks off and I turn to Stella.

Stella just shrugs. "Sorry but he needed to know. You guys are best friends or used to be. And I'm just saying that it's very possible that he could end up being way better for you than any guy out there."

I glare at her and sit down at a table. "I'm fine." I say though inside I think, _Who am I kidding? I can't even lie to myself. If I stay with Matt, I'll probably end up dead at some point. _


End file.
